1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid-droplet ejecting apparatus, and particularly to a liquid-droplet ejecting apparatus in which a gas-permeable film is disposed in a tank from which a liquid is supplied.
2. Description of Related Art
Some of the liquid-droplet ejecting apparatuses including a liquid ejecting head for ejecting droplets of a liquid, such as inkjet printer, further include a tank from which the liquid is supplied to the liquid ejecting head, as disclosed in JP-A-2004-9450. The apparatus disclosed in this publication includes a carriage, a recording head mounted on the carriage, a sub tank, an ink cartridge, and a suction pump. The ink cartridge stores an ink to be supplied to the recording head via the sub tank and an ink supply passage.
The sub tank in this apparatus has a gas-permeable film or member in the form of an air-permeable film. The gas-permeable film does not allow the ink to pass therethrough, but selectively allows gas or air to pass therethrough. A gas or air in the sub tank is removed from an inside of the sub tank, for instance by sucking the gas or air therefrom through the gas-permeable film. Thus, the gas or air contained in the ink stored in the sub tank is separated from the ink, or “gas-liquid separation” is implemented on the ink in the sub tank, so as to inhibit inflow of the gas or air into the liquid ejecting head.
When the gas or air is sucked from the inside of the sub tank through the gas-permeable film, the gas-permeable film may be damaged or come off.